Catch Me If You Can
As you may have gathered, I tend to be a "half-full" sort. And, when it came down to it, I invested more in Obama than I have in any prior presidential candidate, in a variety of denominations.
Consequently, I continue to find many of his actions (and inactions) quite disturbing, to the point of quite painful. I'm very disappointed that, for example, Obama does not empathize sufficiently with the victims of torture sanctioned by the Bush administration to choose investigation of that administration's war-crimes vs. paranoical sequestering of all-things-executive.
The war-justifying words in his Nobel acceptance speech, besides invoking war-mongering by such as lbj and rmn in addition to his predecessor, to me made a mockery of the award.
And I have to agree with this quite-critical commentary from the ACLU, a group I admire and support:
During his 36-minute speech after accepting the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway Thursday, President Barack Obama explained to an audience of 1,000 how the United States has a "moral and strategic interest" in abiding by a code of conduct when waging war - even one that pits the US against a "vicious adversary that abides by no rules.
"That is what makes us different from those whom we fight," Obama said. "That is a source of our strength. That is why I prohibited torture. That is why I ordered the prison at Guantanamo closed. And that is why I have reaffirmed America’s commitment to abide by the Geneva Conventions. We lose ourselves when we compromise the very ideals that we fight to defend. And we honor those ideals by upholding them not just when it is easy, but when it is hard."
To many human rights advocates, however, Obama’s high-minded declaration rang hollow in light of fresh reports that his administration continues to operate secret prisons in Afghanistan where detainees have allegedly been tortured and where the International Committee for the Red Cross has been denied access to the prisoners.
Obama has substituted words for action on issues surrounding torture since his first days in office nearly one year ago. Last June, on the 25th anniversary of the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Obama said the US government "must stand against torture wherever it takes place" and that his administration "is committed to taking concrete actions against torture and to address the needs of its victims.
But it’s clear that his pledge does not apply to torture committed by Bush administration officials. That’s the point the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) made shortly after Obama’s acceptance speech. Officials from the civil rights organization issued a withering indictment of the Obama administration’s handling of clear-cut cases of war crimes they say were committed by former Bush officials who the Obama administration not only refuses to prosecute but has gone to extraordinary lengths to cover up.
Under the Convention Against Torture, the clear record that the Bush administration used waterboarding and other brutal techniques to extract information from detainees should have triggered the United States to conduct a full investigation and to prosecute the offenders. In the case of theUS's refusal to do so, other nations would be obligated to act under the principle of universality.
However, instead of living up to that treaty commitment, the Obama administration is resisting calls for government investigations and going to court to block lawsuits that demand release of torture evidence or seek civil penalties against officials implicated in the torture.
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And, on the health care reform front, I tend to agree with Mr. Dean ("Kill the Senate Bill"!) as to the appallingly-bowdlerized Senate bill, apparently customized on a day-to-day basis a la Rahm, to fit the whims of quintessential asshole-Joe. The constant treachery and stench of lie-berman may even be enough to ruin my love-affair with nutmeg on my nog. This shameless egomaniacal gas-bag needs to be elbowed off the stage, stat, and don't bother with the graces.
In a blow to the (health care reform) bill grinding through the Senate, Howard Dean bluntly called for the bill to be killed in a pre-recorded interview set to air later this afternoon, denouncing it as “the collapse of health care reform in the United States Senate,” the reporter who conducted the interview tells me.
Dean said the removal of the Medicare buy-in made the bill not worth supporting, and urged Dem leaders to start over with the process of reconciliation in the interview, which is set to air at 5:50 PM today on Vermont Public Radio, political reporter Bob Kinzel confirms to me.
The gauntlet from Dean — whose voice on health care is well respsected among liberals — will energize those on the left who are mobilizing against the bill, and make it tougher for liberals to embrace the emerging proposal. In an excerpt Kinzel gave me, Dean says:
This is essentially the collapse of health care reform in the United States Senate. Honestly the best thing to do right now is kill the Senate bill, go back to the House, start the reconciliation process, where you only need 51 votes and it would be a much simpler bill.”
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President Obama gives every sign of being almost as in thrall to the Corporatocracy as Clinton was. But it was and is totally shameful to have supposed democrats cozying up once again to these sleazy competition-fighting, laborer-demeaning monopolies. My current thinking is that if Obama does not take a distinctly progressive turn, and damned soon, he will not get my vote in 2012. I will either not be voting at all or I will be voting for a third-party candidate. I bet that is true of many folks who came eventually to be O supporters.
My hope can only carry me so far until reality ravishes me again.
Consequently, I continue to find many of his actions (and inactions) quite disturbing, to the point of quite painful. I'm very disappointed that, for example, Obama does not empathize sufficiently with the victims of torture sanctioned by the Bush administration to choose investigation of that administration's war-crimes vs. paranoical sequestering of all-things-executive.
The war-justifying words in his Nobel acceptance speech, besides invoking war-mongering by such as lbj and rmn in addition to his predecessor, to me made a mockery of the award.
And I have to agree with this quite-critical commentary from the ACLU, a group I admire and support:
During his 36-minute speech after accepting the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway Thursday, President Barack Obama explained to an audience of 1,000 how the United States has a "moral and strategic interest" in abiding by a code of conduct when waging war - even one that pits the US against a "vicious adversary that abides by no rules.
"That is what makes us different from those whom we fight," Obama said. "That is a source of our strength. That is why I prohibited torture. That is why I ordered the prison at Guantanamo closed. And that is why I have reaffirmed America’s commitment to abide by the Geneva Conventions. We lose ourselves when we compromise the very ideals that we fight to defend. And we honor those ideals by upholding them not just when it is easy, but when it is hard."
To many human rights advocates, however, Obama’s high-minded declaration rang hollow in light of fresh reports that his administration continues to operate secret prisons in Afghanistan where detainees have allegedly been tortured and where the International Committee for the Red Cross has been denied access to the prisoners.
Obama has substituted words for action on issues surrounding torture since his first days in office nearly one year ago. Last June, on the 25th anniversary of the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Obama said the US government "must stand against torture wherever it takes place" and that his administration "is committed to taking concrete actions against torture and to address the needs of its victims.
But it’s clear that his pledge does not apply to torture committed by Bush administration officials. That’s the point the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) made shortly after Obama’s acceptance speech. Officials from the civil rights organization issued a withering indictment of the Obama administration’s handling of clear-cut cases of war crimes they say were committed by former Bush officials who the Obama administration not only refuses to prosecute but has gone to extraordinary lengths to cover up.
Under the Convention Against Torture, the clear record that the Bush administration used waterboarding and other brutal techniques to extract information from detainees should have triggered the United States to conduct a full investigation and to prosecute the offenders. In the case of theUS's refusal to do so, other nations would be obligated to act under the principle of universality.
However, instead of living up to that treaty commitment, the Obama administration is resisting calls for government investigations and going to court to block lawsuits that demand release of torture evidence or seek civil penalties against officials implicated in the torture.
-clip-
And, on the health care reform front, I tend to agree with Mr. Dean ("Kill the Senate Bill"!) as to the appallingly-bowdlerized Senate bill, apparently customized on a day-to-day basis a la Rahm, to fit the whims of quintessential asshole-Joe. The constant treachery and stench of lie-berman may even be enough to ruin my love-affair with nutmeg on my nog. This shameless egomaniacal gas-bag needs to be elbowed off the stage, stat, and don't bother with the graces.
In a blow to the (health care reform) bill grinding through the Senate, Howard Dean bluntly called for the bill to be killed in a pre-recorded interview set to air later this afternoon, denouncing it as “the collapse of health care reform in the United States Senate,” the reporter who conducted the interview tells me.
Dean said the removal of the Medicare buy-in made the bill not worth supporting, and urged Dem leaders to start over with the process of reconciliation in the interview, which is set to air at 5:50 PM today on Vermont Public Radio, political reporter Bob Kinzel confirms to me.
The gauntlet from Dean — whose voice on health care is well respsected among liberals — will energize those on the left who are mobilizing against the bill, and make it tougher for liberals to embrace the emerging proposal. In an excerpt Kinzel gave me, Dean says:
This is essentially the collapse of health care reform in the United States Senate. Honestly the best thing to do right now is kill the Senate bill, go back to the House, start the reconciliation process, where you only need 51 votes and it would be a much simpler bill.”
-clip-
President Obama gives every sign of being almost as in thrall to the Corporatocracy as Clinton was. But it was and is totally shameful to have supposed democrats cozying up once again to these sleazy competition-fighting, laborer-demeaning monopolies. My current thinking is that if Obama does not take a distinctly progressive turn, and damned soon, he will not get my vote in 2012. I will either not be voting at all or I will be voting for a third-party candidate. I bet that is true of many folks who came eventually to be O supporters.
My hope can only carry me so far until reality ravishes me again.
posted by Sir Gumbo at 9:34 PM
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